Instinctive - By Cathryn Fox Page 0,88

a low but firm tone, she said, “Go. Run. Stay safe, and at sunrise meet us in the next town. We’ll be waiting for you.”

Sunray bared her teeth and took one small step forward. Slyck widened his stance and prepared for an attack. Sunray turned her eyes on him and growled, then swished her long golden tail and spun around. With strong, rapid strides, she raced through the open gate.

Drake came back and touched Slyck’s shoulder. “You need to get out of here now too. Vall’s first-in-command, Ciaran, is a good man who has the town’s best interests at heart. Tomorrow I’ll meet with him, and together we’ll cover for tonight’s carnage. I’ll tell the council you two fought, and both ended up dead, and Sunray got caught in the cross fire. I’m not sure anyone in this town will be sad to see Vall go anyway, not even his own pack. In fact, I think they’ll be grateful.”

Jaclyn spotted the uncertainty in Slyck’s eyes when he nodded and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like Harmony, Herbs, and Incantation.

He put his hand on the other man’s shoulder and began, “Drake—”

Drake must have seen the unease in his friend’s eyes as well because he cut Slyck off and said, “It’s time for you to go, Slyck. You’ve lived your life for everyone else. Now it’s time for you to have a life. You deserve this.”

Bile rose in her throat now that the moment to leave was upon them, and she began wringing her hands together. Oh God, she couldn’t ask him to leave everything he’d ever known because of her, she couldn’t be that selfish. Nor would she be responsible for the downfall of his community. They needed his strength, his power, and his command.

She took a moment to run over the events of the last month, her mind searching for an answer and coming up with only one.

Jaclyn took a step back as she came to a decision—she knew what she had to do. With her fate sealed, she began to walk away, slowly. Sure she’d die, but life without Slyck wasn’t a life she was interested in living, anyway.

“Jaclyn, what are you doing?” Slyck turned toward her as Drake made his way back to the security booth.

His questioning tone stopped her cold. She swallowed and met his gaze unflinchingly. “You have to stay,” she answered, deadpan.

He furrowed his brow and in two strides closed the distance between them. He cupped her face and she bit back big hiccup-ping tears. The tenderness in his tone nearly dropped her to the bloodied ground when he said, “What are you talking about, sweetheart?”

She lifted her chin and met with deeply tortured, beautiful green eyes. “I saw your uncertainty, Slyck. You can’t leave your pack. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one for the greater good. You told me so yourself.”

She felt his body tremble and saw the worry in his eyes. “Jaclyn—”

She tried to keep her own voice steady but failed miserably. “Your family needs you, Slyck.”

“You’re my family now, Jaclyn, and we need each other. I’ve prepared Drake for my position.” He spoke softly and pressed sweet kisses to her forehead, her nose, her mouth. “And now with Vall gone . . .”

“But your hesitation . . .”

“I can’t deny that leaving my pack is hard, Jaclyn, but I also know it’s right, and I’ve come to terms with the decision. Everything I’ve ever done was for my community, and maybe it is time I did something for myself. I think I deserve that. We deserve that.”

She gulped.

“Baby, don’t think for one minute I’m letting you walk out of here without me. I’ve spent a lifetime searching for you, and whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”

Relieved, Jaclyn let out a big, inappropriate, unladylike snort. She swung her arms around him, and when he spun her, she spotted Vall crawling across the pavement on his belly, leaving a big streak of red in his wake.

“Oh shit.”

Slyck pivoted, and the second he spotted Vall, he pushed Jaclyn to safety, but before he could counterattack, Vall got a shot off and Slyck fell to the ground at her feet.

She dropped to the ground beside him. “No,” she cried out, and wrapped her arms around him, offering him her strength, her life.

The sound of Vall scraping across the pavement propelled her into action. Acting on instinct, and barely aware of what she was doing, Jaclyn bolted across the pavement and

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